Oilers Advance | Set to Take on Limestone for National Title
Gainesville, Georgia – And then there were two.
On Friday, May 13, the University of Findlay women's golf team, ranked seventh in the country, began medal match play at the NCAA Division II National Championship being held at Chattahoochee Golf Club in Gainesville, Ga. The Oilers had made the round of eight in each of the previous three national championship tournaments but had never won a match, until today.
In the first round of the day, Findlay, which earned the eighth and final seed after a magical run on Thursday, was matched up against DII powerhouse, defending national champion, and current number one in the country, Dallas Baptist University. They would tee off on the back nine.
Medal match play, which was initiated in 2019, pits a player on one team against a player from the other, one on one. The lowest score between those two players earns a point for their team. All five players in the lineup play and the most points wins the match.
First off the tee was senior Jill Schmitmeyer and she did exactly what she was asked to do. The St. Mary's, Ohio native never trailed in her match and shot 74 (+2), winning her match by three to pick up the first point of the day.
Senior Kristina Kniesly was right behind Schmitmeyer and also never trailed. She got her round started with fireworks. Kniesly and her opponent both made bogey on the 10th, the groups first hole of the day, and on 11, Findlay's senior holed out for eagle to go two up. Three holes later at the par-five 14th hole, another eagle, again putting her two up in her match. With four holes remaining, Kniesly was up by four and would cruise home to a three shot win, shooting 70 (-2) in the round.
Freshman Mary Kelly Mulcahy was in a battle in her match and never had a lead on the front nine, trailing by as many as two shots. She pulled her match even with a par on number one and three holes later, she had built a four-shot lead, fueled by back-to-back birdies on holes three and four. From there, she kept her foot on the gas, going on to win her match by six with a 73 (+1) and securing the Oilers' place in the national semifinals.
In the final two matches, freshman Erin Mulcahy and sophomore Gabby Woods were both defeated, Mulcahy was defeated by eight shots against DBU's Jordan Karrh who is a U.S. Women's Amateur Qualifier and Woods was beaten by two against Olivia Mitchell who was the national freshman of the year last season and a first-team all American.
With the 3-2 victory, Findlay was on to the final four for a matchup with Barry University, ranked fifth in the country.
Earlier in the fall, the Oilers welcomed Barry to Findlay, Ohio where the Buccaneers and Oilers battled it out at the William Beall Fall Classic at Findlay Country Club. In that matchup, it was Barry who came out with the tournament win, beating the Oilers by two shots. Today was a different story.
While it was not easy, Findlay would ultimately go on to a 4-1 victory over Barry.
Schmitmeyer was again the first player out for the Oilers and this time, it was not as easy. The lead changed hands three times on the front nine with Findlay's senior trailing by as much as two shots, but a birdie on eight and a par on nine pulled the match even at the halfway point. Schmitmeyer then bogeyed the 10th while Barry's Eve Marie Sapin made birdie to go two up. A birdie on the 14th pulled the match even and a par on 15 gave Schmitmeyer a one-shot lead. Her opponent made birdie on 17 to pull within one shot, but both made par on the final hole, giving Schmitmeyer the win with a 72 (E).
Kniesly was once again a force that could not be stopped in her matchup. The senior did not trail in her match, but it was not easy. She never led by more than two shots and ultimately went on to win by one with a 72 (E). With five holes to play, her match was knotted up, but as she had done twice earlier in the day, another eagle was on the card, this time on the par-five 14th hole. That put her up by two with four to play. On 18, Kniesly's opponent made bogey, giving Findlay's all-American, as named last night by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA), had three putts to pick up the win. She used all three, and although visibly upset with herself, had secured the victory and the second point for her team.
Mary Kelly Mulcahy trailed for the first six holes, but only by one shot. She then pulled her match even with a par on the seventh hole. She and her opponent Maria Cowan went shot-for-shot over the next five holes, remaining tied through 11. On the 12th hole, Mulcahy made par, but Cowan found trouble, making a double bogey and giving Findlay's freshman a two-shot advantage. Standing on the 18th tee, Mulcahy had a one-shot lead. She went right and had some trees obstructing her second shot while Cowan was in the middle of the fairway. Both players found a bunker and both would make bogey. But for the Oilers, that was all it took as their trip to the national championship match had been secured.
While Mulcahy was coming in, Gabby Woods cause an eruption on the 17th hole. Woods, who trailed through 14 holes, had a two-shot swing and led by one through 16. On 17, a short par-three with a pond short and left of the green, Woods was above the hole and 21 feet from the flag. Barry's Nina Klug missed the green to the right and was short-sided. She bladed her chip across the green and would three putt for a double-bogey five. Woods buried her putt for birdie, putting her ahead by four with one hole to play. Both players made bogey and the Oilers cemented what was already a dominating performance.
Freshman Erin Mulcahy was the final player to come in as she was defeated by six against Alice Gotbring of Barry, who was the medalist at the William Beall in the fall. Mulcahy trailed by seven shots through 11 holes, but did fight back, making par on holes 12-17.
The stage is set for a national championship match. Findlay will be pitted against Limestone University who defeated West Texas A&M in the quarterfinal this morning (4-1-0) and then defeated Anderson University (S.C) by a score of 3-1-1.
Limestone comes into the finals as the third ranked team in the country and was seeded third in the medal match play after shooting an 898 (+34) in the stroke play portion of the event. The Saints shot a 307 (+19) in the first round and a 305 (+17) in the final round, but in between they posted a 286 (-2) which was the best 18-hole round of the event.
Comments from Coach Guarnieri
"We stress to our girls every single day that nothing is too big for them. No moment, no shot, nothing. What they did today was quite remarkable. They never got caught up in anything, they just focused on what they needed to do in that moment.
Tomorrow is going to be an absolute blast. We're going in with the same mindset we did today and at the end, we'll add up the scores and see what happens."
Tomorrow, teams will tee off at 9:00 am. Findlay will send out its' lineup the same as it did in the semifinal with Schmitmeyer first, Kniesly second, M. Mulcahy third, Woods fourth, and E. Mulcahy fifth.
For the title.